Karen's Corner Bakery offers fully grain-free baked goods

As of October 1, local Karen Bechtel has opened Karen’s Corner Bakery in the former Sweet Elizabeth's Organics spot at 115 S. 25th Street, offering not merely gluten-free but fully grain-free baked goods. She uses nut, coconut and tapioca flours for all of her baked goods, and, eschewing cane and beet sugars, she uses maple syrup, coconut sugar and honey.

Professionally, Bechtel comes from the supplements industry, having sold and advertised nutritional supplements for Garden of Life and Ancient Nutrition, among others. But she’s been baking since childhood.

“My aunt, Sharon Halsey, taught me how to bake,” she says, recalling that she made her first lattice pie at 10 years old. “I stayed up until 2 in the morning and woke up my parents saying ‘Hey, want some pie?’”

She’s found great success in pastries, she says, noting that her vegan fruit turnovers have been “flying off the shelves.” Bechtel also finds her cheesecakes, pies, apple torte and banana bread all do particularly well. Home bakers can also pick up one of her pre-bagged kits or house-made coconut powdered sugar. That said, she can’t do breads, rolls or anything requiring a strong gluten structure, such as croissants. For now, her in-the-case vegan selection’s limited, though she’ll bake vegan goods for special orders, and she’s working on a vegan cheesecake.

Though seating’s limited to small tables out front, she also offers a few beverages, all from her supplements background, including CBD coffee, bone broth coffee, maple water coffee and tea, bone broth golden milk, unsweetened chai, and more.